Spending most of my childhood with my grandparents in the country side I was always surrounded by all sorts of vegetables and fruits. Except tomatoes and bell papers, my grandma had grown nearly everything. And I also liked nearly everything. Onions are my only don’t-want-to-eat veggies, yet I like the taste, but not the texture. We also had a huge nettles jungle behind the chicken shed and from time to time my grandma would harvest some and use it instead of spinach. Which was kind of strange as nettles are actually a weed, but still tasty. And oh so healthy. They disappeared from my menu for decades until few nights ago at this Feastly dinner where they appeared again in form of nettles pesto. I liked the taste that much that I had to give it a try myself and you should too if you want to give your ordinary pesto a twist. It’s made in no time and you can use it for some many things. Jazz up your pasta, potatoes, veggies, bread, fish, chicken…There is no stopping. It might be a little bit hard to get nettles in the regular supermarket, so if you come across them at the farmer’s market or well assorted groceries go for it. It’s a new pesto experience. And if you have any leftovers, a big cup of nettles tea is super beneficial for our health.
What you need:
*Note: When handling raw nettles always use gloves.
- 2 cups of fresh stinging nettles
- 3 bigger cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- pinch salt & pepper
What to do:
1. Place pine nuts in a pan and roast them until they start to get brown, about 3 min. Set aside.
2. Bring medium pot with water and pinch of salt to boil. Add nettles and cook for 1-2 minutes. This makes the nettles skin-friendly again. Drain and rinse with cold water. Squeeze all liquid out of the nettles. Chop them roughly.
3. Add nettles, garlic and pine nuts to the food processor. While pulsing, add slowly olive oil. Let oil incorporate thoroughly and then add the grated Parmesan. Pulse until pesto is smooth.
Done! Note: Taste pesto before adding more salt as the Parmesan can be already pretty salty. Otherwise a pinch of salt and pepper is fine.
If you make it, I would love to hear how you use it!
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